AMD Introduces Mantle API in Battlefield 4

Most games for Windows use DirectX, which primarily simplifies for developers by making it possible to use the same feature calls regardless of hardware. DirectX becomes something of a common denominator and comes at the cost of complicating hardware-specific optimizations. At the same time, the interface is criticized for being cumbersome and generating too much overhead.

Mantle, an AMD initiative to create a new graphics programming model that fully exploits the capabilities of modern GPUs, allows game developers to speak the native language of the AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, providing a deeper level of hardware optimization no other graphics card manufacturer can match.

At GPU Tech Day, AMD announces its own alternative to DirectX. The software is called Mantle and consists of a programming interface (API) and associated driver, which above all will provide better performance, but also facilitate the development of multi-platform titles for PCs and the new generation of game consoles.

Among other things, Mantle will deliver nine times more drawing calls per second than DirectX and at the same time reduce overhead on the CPU. The interface also allows programmers to work closer to the hardware and gain direct access to the graphics processor’s features. In addition, AMD talks about “perfect parallelization” with several processor cores.

According to AMD, Mantle is an open interface, which means that, for example, Intel and Nvidia can at least in theory add support for the technology. On the other hand, AMD claims that the interface is specially adapted for its own architecture Graphics Core Next, ie the Radeon HD 7000 series and later graphics cards.

First out with support for Mantle is Battlefield 4, where users with graphics cards from the Radeon series will be able to choose AMD’s interface instead of DirectX, with the promise of higher performance. AMD is also partnering with EA and DICE to add Mantle to more titles with the well-used Frostbite game engine.